‘We’ve got to make it a little less Asian’: chefs in Canada push back against stereotypes of Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisine

Chefs such as Alex Chen and Manpreet Sethi have learned to embrace their culinary heritage and are showcasing Asian cuisines in new ways to Canadian diners

Instead of shying away from presenting strong or divisive flavours in their food, the chefs are leaning in and taking pride in their roots

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A new generation of chefs, including Alex Chen of the Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar in Vancouver, are showing what they can do with Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisine in Canada. Photo: Chinese Restaurant Awards

Published: 7:15am, 6 Jan 2023

Alex Chen may not be trained in Chinese cooking, but the chef was nonetheless determined to show off his Cantonese cuisine made using French cooking techniques at a dinner in Vancouver, Canada, organised by the Chinese Restaurant Awards.

For the 240-guest Chinese Master Chefs and Dining by the Awards 2022 Masters finale gala dinner at the Paradox Hotel Vancouver on December 7, the Malaysian-born, Chinese-Canadian chef presented a shallow bowl with thinly sliced raw geoduck, sea urchin and pine mushrooms, over which piping hot consommé was poured, perfectly poaching the geoduck.

“In the Chinese way of making a soup dumpling, where the broth is always the focal point, I think of Jinhua ham and of umami items like our geoduck and the sea urchin that we have in Vancouver,” Chen explains.

“Instead of using Jinhua ham, I’m using the bones from Iberico ham from Spain.”

Lee Man-sing (left) and Tang Chi-keung at the Chinese Master Chefs and Dining by the Awards 2022 Masters finale at Paradox Hotel Vancouver in Canada. Photo: Chinese Restaurant Awards

The event featured six chefs, two of whom are master chefs in Hong Kong – Lee Man-sing, the group Chinese executive chef of Cantonese restaurant Mott 32, and Tang Chi-keung, the Chinese culinary adviser for The Peninsula hotels.

Their presence was partly why Chen was eager to show them what he could do and, in turn, he was able to watch them prepare some classic Cantonese dishes such as bird’s nest stuffed in bamboo piths with jus made from chicken.